EC greenlights Oracle's PeopleSoft bid

Monti's swansong is sweet music for Ellison

The European Commission is set to approve Oracle's hostile takeover of PeopleSoft and official confirmation is likely later today.

Mario Monti, due to retire as Competition Commissioner at the end of the month, is to give the go-ahead for the $7.7bn takeover. It is believed that the EC concluded that the courts would not support such a decision if it was appealed. There were also concerns raised by the fact that the Department of Justice lost its court case calling for the merger to be stopped.

According to the FT it was the Commission's legal services department which finally put the kybosh on blocking the deal. They decided that Oracle would win if it took the case to appeal in the European Court in Luxembourg.

The Commission found insufficient evidence that the merger would substantially damage the market for enterprise software. It now believes that the deal would not have a negative effect on the market and that Oracle-PeopleSoft and SAP will have enough competitors. ®